Devotions

Nobody had ever seen as many supernatural works as Israel. God provided miracle after miracle for them, and yet each work left the people as faithless and unbelieving as before. You would think that the ten plagues on Egypt would have produced faith in the Israelites. When Egypt was afflicted with flies, none were found in Israel's camp. When Egypt fell under total darkness, there was no darkness in Israel. However, none of these plagues produced faith of any kind.

Even after God opened the Red Sea, Israel's faith lasted only three days. Scripture says, “They did not remember the multitude of your mercies, but rebelled by the sea—the Red Sea” (Psalm 106:7, NKJV). The psalmist was saying, “They even doubted God at the Red Sea, the very place where he performed one of his greatest miracles.”

We are so like Israel. We want God to speak a word, grant us a miraculous deliverance, quickly meet our needs, remove all our pain and suffering. In fact, you may be saying right now, “If God would just get me out of this mess, if he'd give me this one miracle, I would never doubt him again.” 

What about all the miracles he has already performed for you? Have you allowed them to produce in you a faith to help you in your present trouble?

Two precious men of God from the Zulu tribe in Africa visited Times Square Church. An incredible revival was taking place among the eight million Zulus, and God was doing miraculous things among them. That is not what these men wanted to talk about, though. Rather, what impressed them most about the revival were the “overcomer Zulus”, those who stood for Christ, burning witchcraft books and witnessing boldly, even though they were being tested and tried severely. These people were once evil with murderous spirits, and they were being transformed into the image of Jesus.

I believe the greatest sign or wonder to the world in these last days is not a person who has been raised from the dead. No, what truly makes an impact on the mind and spirit of the ungodly is the Christian who endures all trials, storms, pain and suffering with a confident faith. Such a believer emerges from his troubles stronger in character, stronger in faith, stronger in Christ.

"Then all the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sin, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink…. And the people murmured against Moses, and said, ‘Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?’” (Exodus 17:1-3, NKJV).

God had led Israel to the driest place in the whole wilderness. It was a testing place with no stream, no well, not even a trickle of water. Most baffling of all, Israel was led there “according to the commandment of the Lord.”

God himself had allowed his people to grow thirsty. Babies were crying, children wailing, grandparents suffering parched throats. Parents looked at their families and thought, “In a few days, we'll all be dead.” They turned in anger to Moses, crying, “Give us water to drink!” They were still depending on man and the flesh.

I want to stop here to point out something. First, God took Israel to Migdol by the sea to test them, and they failed to trust him. Next, he took them to Marah, where he had another plan of deliverance; and they failed again. Now he had brought them to Rephidim for more testing.

Do you see the pattern? If you don't learn to trust the Lord in simple, childlike faith when you're being tested, he will bring you to yet another testing ground.

Israel was in just such a place once again. They were hot, thirsty, angry; but God already had a plan. He was not going to let them die. He had chosen beforehand to have them walk up Mount Horeb to a reservoir of water that he had prepared long before. That source would last not just a day, a week or a month but thirty-eight years! However, God was waiting for a response of faith from Israel. 

Our loving, heavenly Father would never lead his children into a dry desert only to let them die of thirst, especially when he had a reservoir stored in a nearby rock. God has always had a plan for his people. He has a plan for you right now, to deliver you from your present trouble.

“Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do business on great waters, they see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep. For he commands and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up the waves of the sea. They mount up to the heavens, they go down again to the depths; their soul melts because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end” (Psalm 107:23-27, NKJV).

In this psalm, the place referred to as “wits’ end” is a ship's deck in a storm-tossed sea. Giant waves carry the ship up to the heavens and then drop it down to the depths. Powerful winds toss it back and forth so that none of the sailors can find their sea legs. They stagger across the deck like drunken men.

The ship’s sails are tattered and ripped, and wave after powerful wave crashes onto the deck. The sailors have to struggle just to hold on. It appears to be all over for them, and they are in total despair. They are helpless, vulnerable to the power of the elements, unable to stop the storm, powerless to save themselves.

These sailors have come to a place called “wits’ end.” This condition afflicts all Christians at one time or another. It simply means, “Having lost or exhausted any possibility of perceiving or thinking of a way out.” In short, there is no escape, no help or deliverance other than in God himself!

“Then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brings them out of their distresses. He calms the storm, so that its waves are still. Then they are glad because they are quiet; so he guides them to their desired haven” (Psalm 107:28-30).

When did the storm stop for the sailors in Psalm 107? When did God bring them into their desired safe haven? First, the sailors came to their wits’ end, giving up on all human hope or help. They said, “There is no way we can save ourselves. Nobody on earth can get us out of this!” Second, they cried to the Lord in the midst of their trouble, turning to him alone for help. Beloved, that is the key to making it through our storms.

“Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me?... O my God, my soul is cast down within me” (Psalm 42:5-6, NKJV).

Scholars aren’t certain who the writer of this psalm is, but we do know for sure that something is bothering him. His soul is deeply disturbed, and he can’t explain why. This psalmist is on fire for God. He pants after the Lord the way a deer pants for water (see Psalm 42:1), thirsting after the Lord, yearning for intimacy. He asks, “When shall I come and appear before God?” (Psalm 42:2).

We never do learn what the psalmist’s infirmity is. Have you ever experienced this kind of unexplainable melancholy and unexpected, unnamed spiritual blues? You’re doing just fine and have no known sins in your life, but one day you wake up with a disturbance deep in your soul. Some kind of depression has come over you, and you can’t put your finger on it.

I have good news for you. This is an infirmity of the righteous! It strikes only those who hunger after Jesus. We are not to be afraid of such an infirmity because the Holy Spirit has a part in it.

I have experienced enough of life to know that a time comes when this happens to every Christian. We mustn’t try to figure it out because we can’t. As far as we know, the psalmist never did get his “why” answers. 

I believe this strange infirmity is “the sighing of the Holy Spirit” within us. He is letting us know what it feels like to be without God, to be on our own without comfort, hope or guidance. He allows us to experience just a taste of such an awful, horrible condition because our bodies are his temple, and he has been sent to prepare us a chaste bride to Christ. He knows what it takes to keep us unspotted for the bridegroom. 

Most importantly, the Spirit knows how important it is for us to cry out to God for daily strength and power. We simply cannot stand in this time unless we are intimate with the Lord, trusting in him fully and constantly fleeing into his presence. These sighings in our spirits are reminders of where our true source of power and hope lies!

If we’re not careful, we can learn how to live with things that aren’t good for us. Maybe it’s even a pattern of sin that we’ve gone along with for 10 or 15 years. We tell ourselves, “This is just the way it is.” 

We might be caught in a lack of zealous hunger for God’s Word, lack of passion for the things of God, a deadness in our hearts. We can turn from those things.

Turning like that is very good. It takes away things in our hearts that don’t belong there. If we stop there, though, it leaves an emptiness in those spaces. Jesus told a parable about this, saying, “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person…it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first” (Matthew 12:43-45, ESV).   

It’s not enough to turn away from dead things in our lives. When we turn, God wants us to turn away from evil, but he also wants us to turn toward him. The Holy Spirit is not just about taking bad things away from us then leaving us empty. He wants us to turn away from idols, but he also wants us to turn toward something better. 

If we’re willing to stop and listen, we can hear God saying, “I want to change something in you. It’ll turn your soul from lukewarmness that comes from wandering away from your first love. It’ll put fresh fire and wind in your spirit.” 

We can respond, “God, do a work in my heart. Revive and awaken my soul within me. Don’t let me continue to be stuck in the same patterns of sin, drifting through life, missing your gifts and plans for me.” He will make a new hunger and passion stir in our heart so we don’t miss out on his presence in our marriage, our family, our work. This is how a move of God begins. He will transform our churches and communities, but he starts first with turning individual hearts.